Destroy the nation of Amalek
Verse: תמחה את זכר עמלק
Command: Destroy the nation of Amalek
Devarim 25:19
SMG
This Mitzva * is only active during the times of the king Moshiaĉ after once again the land of Israel has been conquered [by him], as it says in our verse[i] והיה בהניח ה’ אלקיך לך מכל איביך וגו’ תמחה את זכר עמלק מתחת השמים.
[i] Devarim 25:19
AMUDAY SHLOMO
[Maharshal does not provide a comment on this Mitzva. His comment was either lost or the manuscript was never completed.]
RASHI
Rashi provides the following commentary on the verse:
- תמחה את זכר עמלק – [quoting[i] the command given to king Shaul in the first direct war against Amalek] men and women, children and infants, oxen and sheep – there should be nothing by which the name of Amalek will be remembered, not even on an animal by which one could say, this animal belonged to an Amaleki.
Seemingly then, according to Rashi, this Mitzva can be accomplished even without waiting for the times of Moshiaĉ and indeed has mostly been done as there is nothing today that we know of and no person that we know of who can be identified as an Amaleki.
[i] Shmuel I 15:3
Discussion by SMS
* The SMG lists this in conjunction with positive Mitzvah 114 – appoint a king. In negative Mitzva 226, Do not forget what Amalek did, the SMG makes the following statement, which I believe belongs to the discussion on this Mitzva, and was not included there since this Mitzva is being discussed in conjunction with the Mitzva to appoint a king, and not as its own separate Mitzva.
Even though the word זכר can also be read as memory, this Mitzva is not defined as the obligation to destroy the memory of Amalek, because if it would be then the Mitzva would contradict the obligation itself – one can’t destroy the memory of Amalek while constantly on the lookout for his descendants. In fact, were it not for the Jewish people and the Torah, no trace of them would remain in the annals of history.
By tradition, the word זכר is read in two ways[1], זֵכֶר – memory and זֶכֶר – male. This results in two meanings to the phrase – erase the memory of Amalek and erase the male descendants of Amalek. When read in conjunction, we can say the meaning is that since lineage in Amalek was transferred along the patrilineal line, the destruction of the memory of that lineage accomplishes the same thing as destroying all males – and that both are required for the Mitzva.
This explains why the Targum of Ester makes the effort to trace the ancestry of Haman[2], similar to the Megilla itself identifying him as האגגי – a descendent of אגג, possibly the last king of the Amaleki tribe. Since his ancestry was known, he was a target of this Mitzva.
Besides the obvious criteria of being able to identify someone as a direct patrilineal descendent of Amalek, there are also the following conditions for the Mitzva to be in effect:
- There must be a king of all the Jewish people. לך – grants you. That this obligation to destroy Amalek is tied to the sovereign king of the Jewish people – and is not obligatory on every individual – can be derived from the verse ושים באזני יהושוע, and as noted later with regard to the punishment assessed for rebelling against a king, Yehoshua was considered a king. That he made no effort to focus on destroying Amalek implies that this wasn’t a command limited to Yehoshua. If so, why then would he be identified if not to assign the obligation of this Mitzva to the kings of the Jews.[3]
- There must be peace from all the enemies surrounding Israel. בהניח ה’… מכל אויבך מסביב
- The Jews must be inheritors of the land of Israel – with the majority of the tribes and the people living in the land. בארץ אשר ה’ אלקיך נתן לך נחלה לרשתה
These conditions were fulfilled only once throughout all of history – when Shaul was first crowned as king.
There were only three (3) [legitimate] Jewish kings of all the Jewish people: Shaul, Dovid and Shlomo.
- With regards to King Shaul; approximately 408 years after the initial attack by Amalek, Hashem commanded Shmuel to tell Shaul, the newly anointed first king of the Jews: ‘It’s time. “I remember what Amalek did to the Jewish people, their assault on the road during the exodus from Egypt. And now go, destroy the nation of Amalek and all that they have. Show no mercy on him and destroy them: man, woman, children and infants, oxen and sheep, camels and donkeys – anything that can be identified as Amaleki.”’ Shaul obeyed the command and mustered the nation’s people into an army and attacked Amalek. The attack was successful; however, the people were uncomfortable engaging in a complete genocide though – resulting in survivors that went on to perpetuate the line of Amalek. Haman, the evil protagonist in during the times of Ester was a direct descendant of that line. This was the only actual effort made by the Jewish people to destroy the nation of Amalek and their descendants.
- King Dovid was not at peace and had to wage war against the enemies of the Jews until the end of his life, although he did attack the remnants of Amalek while working for Akish the King of the Philistines.[i] [4]
- King Shlomo had peace built on the war legacy of his father, as well as various diplomatic accords and relationships – but in his day there was no known group of Amalek to attack. (Probably they realized it wasn’t a good idea to advertise their lineage after being attacked by both Shaul and Dovid).
And even when a person identifies as an Amaleki and is under military jurisdiction of the Jewish people, that isn’t necessarily something that he would be killed for – as we see from Dovid’s decision to kill the Amaleki messenger only because he had ended Shaul’s life.
When Shaul was killed, there was a (Amaleki) person who was present there, who took Shaul’s crown and armband as proof of Shaul’s death and brought them to Dovid with the tale that when Shaul committed attempted suicide by falling on his sword, this person finished him off. After being pressed, the messenger admitted that he was ‘a convert from the nation of Amalek’[ii]. Dovid ordered him killed for having killed the king – and not because he was an Amaleki.
[1] Interestingly, normally, when there is a word which is pronounced differently than its written form, only the oral pronunciation is used, and the written form is ignored. The only instance in which both written and oral forms are enunciated are here, and in the reading of Ester, in the verses [Ester 8:11] ולהרג ולאבד which is also read as להרג ולאבד and [Ester 9:2] ואיש לא עמד לפניהם which is also read as ואיש לא עמד בפניהם. Perhaps corresponding to the two (2) times in the Torah where both versions of the word זכר are read.
[2] הָמָן בַּר הַמְדָתָא בַּר עֲדָא בַּר בִּזְנָאִי בַּר אַפְלִיטוּס בַּר דְיוֹסוֹס בַּר פְּרוֹס בַּר חַמְדָן בַּר תַּלְיוֹן בַּר אַתְנִיסוֹמוּס בַּר חָרוּם בַּר חַרְסוּם בַּר שְׁגַר בַּר גְנַר בַּר פַּרְמַשְׁתָּא בַּר וַיְזָתָא בַּר אַגָג בַּר סוּמְקָר בַּר עֲמָלֵק בַּר אֱלִיפַז בַּר עֵשָׂו רַשִׁיעַיָא
[3] There is a midrashic component of this verse, which notes that Yehoshua was identified and Mordeĉai was his descendant [even though Yehoshua was from the tribe of Efraim, and Mordeĉai was from the tribe of Binyamin. Perhaps we are talking about matrilineal descent]. I guess this is why the phrase כתוב זאת זכרון בספר also hints to the Megilla, which was incorporated into the Tanaĉ canon partially in reliance on this verse which hints at the obligation to write a Megilla (ספר) about this topic.
[4] It is interesting that Dovid did not destroy the animals and completely eradicate all material goods owned by the Amalekim. Shaul had been punished not for failing to do so, but for failing to obey G-d’s command. Dovid was not thus commanded and therefore was justified in following the instructions of his temporary liege – leaving survivors and identifiable items.
It should also be noted that Dovid agreed to work for Akish as a ruse to allow him to attack the enemies of the Jews while hiding behind the Philistine flags, so that any reprisals would be against the Philistines and not the Jews. Perhaps that is also why he did not destroy the spoils of war but brought them back to the Philistines. Such wanton destruction simply because they had belonged to the Amalekim would be a signal that he was acting as a Jew in destroying them, and not as a mercenary of the Philistines. Furthermore, by gifting these items to the Philistines, they would no longer be identifiable as items of Amaleki origin.
[i] Shmuel I 27:9
[ii] Shmuel II 1:13
Key
Etymology and Definitions of Defined Terms
- Amalek[1] has the Gematria of ספק (70+40+30+100 = 60+80+100). Spiritually the nation of Amalek stands for casting doubt in one’s service to G‑d.
- Possibly a portmanteau of עם מלק – a nation which nips the head off. In deliberate contrast to the requirements of שחיטה, this nation kills from the back of the neck. Symbolically this is the attempt to attack from behind at the point where the body is most vulnerable.
[1] Normally, this entry would be preceded by the Hebrew spelling, followed by a discussion on its meaning. However, since there is a custom to erase even the spelling of the Hebrew name, I have chosen to literally erase it from this entry.